Ex-Softie: Exodus of senior Microsoft execs is ‘devastating’

What’s going on in Redmond? In the past year or so, five senior Microsoft executives have resigned from their posts.

Muglia

The latest was Bob Muglia, whose surprising upcoming departure from the Server and Tools Business was made public on Monday. Quite public, actually — in his e-mail to all staff, CEO Steve Ballmer declared, “I have decided that now is the time to put new leadership in place for STB.”

Perhaps Ballmer just felt the need for new blood, but with financial results as they have been, that seems unlikely. Muglia helped build the S&T division into the $15 billion business it is today, and also had been fingered by many as a possible successor to Ballmer.

Not anymore, it seems. Muglia has joined the ranks of Ray Ozzie (chief software architect), Stephen Elop (Office division president), Robbie Bach (Entertainment and Devices Division president) and Chris Liddell (chief financial officer) — all of whom have left, or have announced plans to leave, since November 2009. One could also go back to 2008 and add Kevin Johnson (Platform and Services division president) and Jeff Raikes (Office division president) to the list.

Don Dodge, a former influential Microsoft evangelist who joined Google after getting laid off from Microsoft in 2009, thinks the exodus of high-level executives will have serious and long-term effects.

“Losing a seasoned exec like Bob Muglia is a big, but recoverable loss,” he wrote this week on his personal blog. “Losing Muglia, Robbie Bach, Steve Elop, Ray Ozzie, Chris Liddell, Kevin Johnson, Jeff Raikes, and other senior execs is devastating. The effects aren’t visible yet. It takes years to unfold. Each individual business division will get a new leader, and revenues will continue to chug along.

“But, who will be the visionary for the future? And, who will be ready to step in as CEO when Ballmer leaves? Those are billion dollar questions.”

Indeed, as Wall Street all but demands Ballmer’s head on a platter, Microsoft’s top echelon is being diced and quartered. Who’s left among the senior leadership?

Steven Sinofsky, president of the ever-important Windows division, has been with the company since 1989. Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, joined in 1992. As did Kurt DelBene, who recently took over Elop’s presidency of the Office division.

These are the most experienced product-group executives, but do any of the names jump out at you as the next Microsoft visionary — or leader?